Wildlife faces wipeout in the cradle of evolution, 3-31-05 Galapagos

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Wildlife faces wipeout in the cradle of evolution,

3-31-05 Galapagos

Sun, 3 Apr 2005 10:52:11 -0700

 

Wildlife faces wipeout in the cradle of evolution

Experts warn of 'catastrophic' fishing threat to

Galapagos Islands

By Daniel Howden and Michael McCarthy

31 March 2005

 

 

Environmental disaster is looming in the Galapagos

Islands, the Pacific

archipelago whose unique wildlife inspired Charles

Darwin's theory of

evolution. Already under pressure from a rapidly

growing population and

mass

tourism, the waters around the Galapagos face being

devastated by one

of the

world's most wildlife-damaging fishing methods.

 

The Galapagos have been officially protected for

nearly 20 years and

form

part of the Galapagos World Heritage Site. But now the

islands' 1,000

fishermen want to introduce long-lining - a technique

involving lines

many

miles long holding hundreds of thousands of baited

hooks, which catch

and

kill as many birds and animals as the fish that are

targeted.

 

Conservationists fear that the species-rich marine

ecosystem of the

islands,

governed by Ecuador, which is 600 miles to the east,

will be cut to

pieces.

 

Sea lions, dolphins, turtles, sharks, penguins,

albatrosses and many

other

seabirds, all of which are major tourist attractions,

are all likely to

fall

victim to the hooks.

 

" This will be a disaster for the environment, " said

Leonor Stjepic, the

executive director of the London-based Galapagos

Conservation Trust

(GCT)last night.

 

There is growing worldwide alarm at the threat,

heightened by the

islands'

iconic environmental status as the cradle of evolution

- the place

where

Charles Darwin began to think about the origins of the

many different

species that could be found there and nowhere else,

when he arrived as

the

naturalist aboard HMS Beagle in 1835. His Galapagos

observations led

directly to his theory of evolution by natural

selection.

 

Unesco, the United Nations organisation which declared

the islands a

World

Heritage Site in 1978, is so concerned that it is

sending a delegation

to

the archipelago on 10 April to investigate the " urgent

situation " . The

UN

body is considering putting the islands on its " danger

list " , which is

a

catalogue of globally important sites at immediate

risk. " If it is

determined the threat is very serious and getting

worse, the islands

could

be put on the danger list, " said Unesco's marine

specialist Marjaana

Kokkonen.

 

Some observers feel the threat has increased under the

current

administration of Colonel Lucio Guiterrez, which came

to power two

years ago

and has been propped up by support from militant

unions, including

fishermen

determined to increase their catches.

 

Last year, an attempt to enforce a limit on

sea-cucumber harvests -

worth

$3m (£1.6m) annually - angered Galapagos fishermen,

who threatened park

rangers with petrol bombs and in one incident took 30

scientists and a

number of the islands' giant tortoises hostage. Xavier

Bustamente, head

of

Ecuador's leading conservation movement, the Fundacion

Natura, said:

" If

this situation doesn't change it will be catastrophic

for the

Galapagos. "

 

The islands' burgeoning population, which has risen

from fewer than

2,000

people in 1960 to nearly 27,000 today, puts increasing

pressure on

natural

resources. But the long-lining issue threatens an

imminent crisis - the

fishermen will be holding a meeting with the islands'

conservation

board

next month to press their case.

 

What concerns and angers conservationists around the

world is that the

fishermen want to use the method throughout the

Galapagos marine

reserve,

which has been in existence since 1986 and protects

all the waters

around

the 13 islands in the group. " If they bring it in, it

will be the death

of

the Galapagos, " said Paul Watson, a co-founder of

Greenpeace, and now

head

of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

 

Mrs Stjepic of the GCT pointed out that a long-lining

pilot project had

been

carried out in the Galapagos last year and that the

level of bycatch

involved - the other marine life caught inadvertently

alongside the

catch -

was " very high " . She said: " It involved sharks,

albatrosses, turtles,

sea

lions and boobies [a species of seabird] and in some

cases it was 80

per

cent of the total catch. Long-lining basically means

anything that uses

the

sea to live or to fish is at risk. "

 

She added: " In the Galapagos there are 29 species of

sharks, 14 of

which are

officially considered under threat. If there is that

level of bycatch

there

is very little possibility of them surviving. " Another

marine animal,

the

laud, or leatherback, turtle, was in imminent danger

of extinction

throughout the Pacific, she said. " Every individual

caught as bycatch

will

represent a direct threat to the survival of the

species. "

 

Tour operators have come out strongly against

long-lining. " We are

completely against long-line fishing in any form in

the protected

waters of

the Galapagos islands, " said David Blanton, director

of the

International

Galapagos Tour Operators Association. " To us, it is

inconceivable that

this

form of fishing is even being discussed for the

Galapagos Marine

Reserve, a

World Heritage Site. "

 

ENDANGERED SPECIES?

 

Marine iguana

 

Takes its red colouring from the seaweed that is the

mainstay of its

diet.

 

Galapagos albatross

 

One of the ocean's great travellers. It nests almost

uniquely on the

island

of Española in the archipelago.

 

Blue-footed booby

 

The bird with the most comedic mating dance; raises

its bright blue

feet one

at a time and then swivels its head away from

prospective mates.

 

Galapagos penguin

 

Smallest of the warm weather penguins, it stands only

16in to 18in

tall.

 

Green turtle

 

Abounds on the volcanic islands and lays its eggs in

big batches on

white

sands.

 

Galapagos shark

 

Unique to these islands. Mainly a bottom dweller and

hugs the varied

coastline.

3 April 2005 10:41

 

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